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Sheila Escovedo appears as one of the judges in the Fox television network’s competitive reality TV series American Band. More popularly known by her stage name Sheila E., she was born December 12, 1957 in Oakland, California. She is the daughter of percussionist Pete Escovedo, and she frequently performs together with him. Other famed and musically-inclined names in her family include her uncle Alejandro Escovedo, who performed together with Delphine Neid in the first-wave punk rock band named The Nuns; her uncle Coke Escovedo, who was also a percussionist; and her godfather Tito Puente. She was raised in a clan of mixed Creole, African-American and Mexican ancestry.

She performed her recording debut song together with jazz bassist Alphonso Johnson, for the song “Yesterday’s Dream” in 1976. Escovedo is a percussionist and drummer, though she also plays string instruments such as the guitar and violin. By the time she was in her early twenties, she was already playing and performing together with the likes of Lionel Richie, Diana Ross, George Duke, Herbie Hancock, and Marvin Gaye. Escovedo’s most notable musical collaborations were together with Ringo Starr and Prince. Aside from her musical career, she co-founded a charitable support organization for abused children named the Elevate Hope Foundation.


(Photo courtesy of FOX)

Sheila Escovedo was born on December 12, 1957 in Oakland, California.  She is of Mexican, African-American and Creole descent and was born into a family of musicians.  Her father is percussionist Pete Escovedo, her uncle is Alejandro Escovedo, a former member of the Nuns, and her grandfather was Latin jazz and mambo musician Tito Puente.  Sheila studied at Oakland High School.

Sheila E. plays a variety of instruments including the drums, percussions, violin and guitar.  Her experiences have taken her as far as performing onstage with artists such as George Duke, Lionel Richie, Diana Ross, Herbie Hancock and Marvin Gaye.  Of them all, she is most famous for working with Prince and the Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.  She opened for Prince on the Purple Rain Tour from 1984 to 1985.

In 1984, Sheila E. released her first solo album entitled The Glamorous Life.  It contained the single “The Glamorous Life” which reached the seventh spot on the Hot 100 charts.  Her other albums were Romance 1600, Sheila E., Sex Cymbal, Writes of Passage and Heaven.

Sheila E. is also active in the movie industry.  She was seen on films Krush Groove, Chasing Papi and The Adventures of Ford Fairlane.  She also contributed to the soundtracks of the three movies. Other soundtracks she was part of were Caught and Ringo Starr and the All Starr Band 2003.

On TV, she appeared on The Magic Hour, Cosby and Saturday Night Live .  In 2007, she judged FOX's The Next Great American Band alongside Ian Dickson and John Rzeznik .

She was one of the artists listed on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll.

She was featured in Playboy and Celebrity Sleuth.  One of her most remembered statements is this: “I'm not trying to sell sex. I just don't like wearing a lot of clothes on stage.”

Sheila E is a contestant on CBS' reality TV series Secret Talents of the Stars , a show that pits celebrities against each other as they showcase their hidden abilities.  Her hidden talent is juggling with The Flying Karamazov Brothers.


(Photo courtesy of CBS)

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